The Style Lab opened early Friday morning. Integrity Toys (IT) opted this year to return to the old way of letting collectors in according to their place when they line up in the morning. (In the past couple years, collectors were assigned a random "cue number" that decided when they got to enter the lab.)
The Style Lab has gone through several changes over the years. It originally supported the "Dynamite Girls" line, moved to "Color Infusion" in 2012, and has now progressed to "The Industry". Collectors purchase nude dolls and can choose among different ensembles sold a la carte. The theme this year was an amalgamation of the movie cult classic "Clueless" with the Lewis Carroll fairytales Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass. I can think of nothing more original than pairing these two storylines.
All photos are the property of Integrity Toys and are provided for informational purposes only.
First up, we have Alice. This is Tulabelle True wearing "I'm Curious".
Merging the Lewis Carroll storyline with Clueless was definitely a challenge for creating the Alice character. Although I love the modern interpretation (and the doll's face-up is gorgeous), there is really nothing here that says "Alice in Wonderland" to me; it is very dark and sinister which may support the story more than the Alice character herself. I think the ensemble is extremely well made and I wouldn't mind having it in my collection; however, Alice is always portrayed as very innocent, wearing multiple layers of petticoats and an apron. I guess IT was trying to be careful to stay away their earlier interpretation with 2010's IFDC Convention Companion Doll, "Curiouser and Curiouser Alice" worn by Dynamite Girl Gavin.
We also got Tulabelle True in African American skin tone wearing "Who Are You" as the caterpillar.
My favorite nude doll of the collection. but the ensemble is just way over the top. This concept is quite fascinating. The doll, though, remains one of the very best from the entire convention.
Next up is Binx Barone as the Queen of Hearts. The ensemble is called "Heartache".
She is wearing what looks like a sandwich board fuzzy heart which is actually a faux fur coat. I appreciate the broken heart bustier and wouldn't mind having this piece in my dolls' closet. The pants are very similar to a DG pair used in the Style Lab several years ago. Although very modern and edgy, I'm not a fan of this interpretation of The Queen of Hearts. However, I LOVE the Tatyana "Checkmate" version from 2010.
Liu Liu Lang showed up as the Rabbit, wearing "Just A Second".
I do love the mask!! Again, I think it is unfortunate IT has already produced a better version of this character with "Red Rabbit Misaki" from 2008. (Liu Liu does remind me of Quicksilver Kyori Sato, who is one of my very favorite IT dolls.)
Something that was very exciting for collectors was that Poppy Parker made an appearance in the Style Lab this year. Her first character is The White Queen wearing "Your Move".
This is obviously the character "Sher". I always considered the 2008 Misaki Pure Evil IT's interpretation of the The White Queen (since she came with "Red Rabbit") and think the Misaki version is superior.
The second character portrayed by Poppy was one of the Tweedle Twins (not sure which is which and am not sure how I feel about them being fraternal). She is wearing "Clueless".
I really like both the doll and the ensemble. From the collection, this is my favorite combination.
The other Tweedle Twin seems to be an homme character, Milo Montez, wearing "Dim the Lights."
The same fabrics are used and both have the black striped accessories. I think the twins are the best of the concepts here and I am sorely tempted to add them to my collection wearing these exact ensembles! The designers really got this set right!
The last three characters were also male dolls. Going left to right, we have Tate Tanaka as the Mad Hatter wearing "Completely Mad", Cabot Clark as the Knave of Hearts wearing "Lover Boy", and Daley Daniels as the Cheshire Cat wearing "Not All There".
There were also two accessory packs. One for the ladies called "Eat Me" and one for the gents called "Totally Bonkers."
I really appreciate the fact that designers were being mindful to stay away from "costumes". I like the fabrics chosen and the design ideas a great deal. It was weird combining the themes, but I guess it's like the characters from Clueless decided to put on a play of Lewis Carroll's books but read the Cliff Notes version and decided to use clothing from their closets??
As a collector, had I been attending, I wouldn't have been disappointed in the least. The entire collection is quite cohesive and well made. The screenings are great and there are many mix and match possibilities with clothing. Had I been there, I would've unfortunately been pulled into collecting The Industry line.
It has been reported that The Industry clothing can be shared with the NuFace dolls to a point; however, the shoes will not fit. Personally, I don't have any Industry dolls or clothing. I no longer collect hommes, so that temptation no longer exists. Although I really like both Poppy Parker versions, I passed at this time. Fortunately, I was able to walk away from this performance financially unscathed.
All photos are the property of Integrity Toys and are provided for informational purposes only.
First up, we have Alice. This is Tulabelle True wearing "I'm Curious".
We also got Tulabelle True in African American skin tone wearing "Who Are You" as the caterpillar.
Next up is Binx Barone as the Queen of Hearts. The ensemble is called "Heartache".
Liu Liu Lang showed up as the Rabbit, wearing "Just A Second".
Something that was very exciting for collectors was that Poppy Parker made an appearance in the Style Lab this year. Her first character is The White Queen wearing "Your Move".
The second character portrayed by Poppy was one of the Tweedle Twins (not sure which is which and am not sure how I feel about them being fraternal). She is wearing "Clueless".
The other Tweedle Twin seems to be an homme character, Milo Montez, wearing "Dim the Lights."
The last three characters were also male dolls. Going left to right, we have Tate Tanaka as the Mad Hatter wearing "Completely Mad", Cabot Clark as the Knave of Hearts wearing "Lover Boy", and Daley Daniels as the Cheshire Cat wearing "Not All There".
I really appreciate the fact that designers were being mindful to stay away from "costumes". I like the fabrics chosen and the design ideas a great deal. It was weird combining the themes, but I guess it's like the characters from Clueless decided to put on a play of Lewis Carroll's books but read the Cliff Notes version and decided to use clothing from their closets??
As a collector, had I been attending, I wouldn't have been disappointed in the least. The entire collection is quite cohesive and well made. The screenings are great and there are many mix and match possibilities with clothing. Had I been there, I would've unfortunately been pulled into collecting The Industry line.
It has been reported that The Industry clothing can be shared with the NuFace dolls to a point; however, the shoes will not fit. Personally, I don't have any Industry dolls or clothing. I no longer collect hommes, so that temptation no longer exists. Although I really like both Poppy Parker versions, I passed at this time. Fortunately, I was able to walk away from this performance financially unscathed.
2 comments:
I am with you! I would have thoroughly enjoyed this convention had I gone and I would not have been disappointed with the dolls. However, I haven't seen anything for which I would be willing to pay the astronomical prices I am seeing on eBay so far. I will wait to see if WClub offers any of these dolls to members later as they did last year, but I will be happy with the dolls I currently have on pre-order!
Definitely think Poppy is Tweedledee while her brother would be Dum but they didn't label it while we were there.
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